Year 6 visit to St Vincent's Church
Lesson: Religious education
Our School Trip to St Vincent’s Church
On Monday 23rd March, the children in Year 6 (approximately 90 children) from St Vincent’s School visited St Vincent’s Church. Deacon John and Father John gave up their time to explain and show how the holy objects are used during mass. The children asked lots of questions referring to their most recent topics in Religious Education called ‘Jesus, the Bread of Life’ and ‘Jesus, the Son of God.’ We discovered that St Vincent’s Church was opened in 1903, so it has been used for more than 100 years!
Chasuble
The priest wears a chasuble on top of the alb. There are four chasubles: green, red, purple and white. If the priest wears a green chasuble, it means that it is ordinary time in the Church’s liturgical year. The red coloured chasuble is for Pentecost and remembering all the saints who were martyrs (which means the people who died for their beliefs) and finally on Good Friday, because Christians remember the loss of Jesus’ blood as he was nailed to the cross. The purple chasuble is for Advent and Lent. It may also be worn at funerals since a lot of people will be mourning a person’s death. Finally the white chasuble, which is worn for celebrations, is put on at Christmas, Easter, weddings, baptisms and sometimes for funerals, as people may want to celebrate someone’s life.
The History of St Vincent’s Church
The children were told by Father John that the church was opened in 1903 and there had once been a big refurbishment. The font, a place where the priest baptises a baby, was moved around three times. It used to be at the front of the Church, meaning that the baby would be welcomed into God’s family at the entrance of the church. Then it was moved outside and another portable font was used and now the old marble one has been moved near to the Altar. When the baby is baptised, Father John told us that he warms the water up so the baby doesn’t get cold.
The Tabernacle
The tabernacle was specially designed by an architect for St Vincent’s Church. It contains the body of Jesus, so anyone who visits Church feels reassured that Jesus is present. The sanctuary lamp tells us that Jesus is present in the tabernacle. When we enter Church we should genuflect towards the tabernacle to show respect and reverence. However, most people genuflect towards the Altar.
To conclude, I believe that all the Year 6 children enjoyed visiting St Vincent’s Church and enjoyed listening to Father John and Deacon John as well as asking questions. The trip was organised so that we could learn more about the sacred objects used in mass, the parts of the mass and their importance and also to think about how the Passover, the Last Supper and the Eucharistic prayer are all linked. The children learned lots to help them in their RE lessons including what the tabernacle is and why we genuflect.
Written by Julie Park